Riyadh, July 04: No Muslim will question the fact that it is Allah (SWAT) who has created the universe and who has set all the rules of nature in operation. On the basis of this common acceptability, everyone agrees that weather conditions, birth and death as well as effects of natural forces and conditions on man happen by Allah’s will.
This is Allah’s will that Former boxing champion Malik Abdul Aziz (Mike Tyson), who converted to Islam while in jail in the 1990s, is visiting the Muslim holy cities of Makkah and Madina on pilgrimage, a Saudi daily reported on Saturday.
Tyson, who was world heavyweight champion from 1986 to 1990, arrived on Friday in Madina with the Canadian Dawa Association for the umrah, the newspaper Okaz said.
From Madina he will travel on to Makkah and also plans to visit other Saudi cities, it reported.
Tyson, 44, converted to Islam while serving a 10-year prison sentence, later commuted to three years, for raping a US beauty queen in 1991.
Holy Quran ,[al-Zumar 39:53-59]:
“Say: “O ‘Ibaadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins)! Despair not of the Mercy of Allaah, verily, Allaah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful.
All sins committed before coming to Islam are forgiven. No matter how bad they were. They are forgiven. One who converts to Islam is totally reborn and starts with a clean record.
After prison he attempted a comeback, but was never able to regain his title and finally gave up professional boxing in 2005.
Last January, he took part in a WWE Raw pro wrestling event in the United States.
Mike Tyson, the former boxer who once bit his opponent’s ear and was jailed for raping a model, confessed he is afraid of Allah most of all.
“I’m afraid of Allah. I know I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life and I think I’ll have to go to hell for it. I pray for forgiveness every day,” he said at a press conference in Kazakhstan.
The Kazakhstan edition of the Izvestia paper quotes the boxer as saying that he adheres to Islam and religion plays an important part in his life.
“Why I’ve chosen Islam, it’s hard to say. But for me Islam is not just saying “Salaam Aleikum” and calling on a mosque once year without doing any good. I’m a sincere Muslim and should observe all Quran rules. It’s most important for me,” Tyson said. He further added, he will perform haj this year.
Answering the question if he is proud of his sport achievements, Tyson said that at present his main achievement was help to sick children and charity.
“That’s what I’ve really achieved in life. And everything that was before doesn’t matter any more,” the former sportsman said.
Mike came to the Kazakh capital to the international festival of action films Astana where he watched a film about himself – Tyson. During the festival the boxer celebrated his 44th birthday and received an ancient sword and national Kazakh dress in a local mosque as a present.
Mike became a believer during his years in jail, where guided by a prison imam he first read Quran, accepted Islam and was given a new name – Malik Abdul Aziz.